The Tetris Effect: Re-Wire Your Mind

The Tetris Effect:

When the game Tetris was released, it was insanely popular and became an instant classic. Even the creator of the game himself has said he had trouble finishing the game’s programming because he couldn’t stop playing it during testing! From the start, the game produced an unforeseen effect on the players’ minds when played very heavily – one that was confusing, somewhat alarming, and ultimately fascinating.

Also known as The Tetris Syndrome, The Tetris Effect occurs when people spend so much time doing a particular activity or pattern of behavior that it inhabits their thoughts, mental images, and dreams. With Tetris, the players would see the little tetris block formations, or tetronimos, falling and fitting into rows when they weren’t playing anymore. With other games and activities requiring repetitive behaviors, other similar visual experiences associated with the activity take place. It is related to something becoming a habit but with real cognitive changes occurring in the brain.

Memory Science:

In psychology, memory is the process through which information is encoded, stored, and retrieved. There are different types of memory including “declarative memory,” which requires conscious recall. In other words, some active mental process must occur to recall the information.

Conversely there is “procedural memory,” which is not based on conscious recall but on implicit learning. Implicit learning takes places when a behavior is learned from repetitive practice. So procedural memory works when you automatically know how to physically do something without any conscious effort – like tying your shoe, riding a bike, or reading. Motor skills are developed this way as well as behaviors and patterns of thoughts associated with The Tetris Effect.

Real Studies:

In 2000, a scientist, Robert Stickgold and his colleagues at the Harvard Medical School proposed that Tetris imagery is a separate form of memory likely related to procedural memory. This is from their research in which they showed that people with anterograde amnesia, unable to form new declarative memories, reported dreaming of falling shapes after playing Tetris during the day despite not being able to remember playing the game at all.

A study conducted by Lynn Okagaki and Peter Frensch in 1994 showed that participants who played Tetris for twelve 30-minute sessions (with no previous experience of the game) did much better than a control group in a spatial skills test. The result of the experiment was that the game had positive effects on spatial skills abilities including mental rotation, spatial perception, and spatial visualization.

The experience of seeing falling tetris blocks in your mind hours after playing the game can be somewhat alarming, and you might think, “Did I just fry my brain!?” Playing the game Tetris is very enjoyable for most players, and the somewhat alarming effect of visualizing the game when you aren’t playing it might even have benefits like those described in the studies above. Overall, it’s a very unique observable scientific phenomenon associated with a popular video game, which is pretty cool.

Media

Some media may contain mature content. Discretion is advised when viewing with students.

Lesson Plan

Learning Objective: This lesson will introduce learners of psychology and memory science to a unique phenomenon that is associated with playing Tetris. Through learning about memory science and having an opportunity to play the game, learners will understand how procedural memory can be altered through repetitive behaviors.

Melissa has a Masters in Educational Communication and Technology from NYU. She has worked in academic publishing, games, and the educational toys industries.

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